Top films of 2012 | Betsy Sharkey

Caption'Life of Pi'

20th Century Fox

With its ethereal 3-D inventiveness, the soulful surprise of Suraj Sharma and its themes of survival and faith, the film did everything I want a movie to do -- entertain and astonish in exceptional fashion.

With its ethereal 3-D inventiveness, the soulful surprise of Suraj Sharma and its themes of survival and faith, the film did everything I want a movie to do -- entertain and astonish in exceptional fashion. (20th Century Fox)

These films couldn't be more different in storytelling, texture and style. Yet two distinctive filmmakers -- Quentin Tarantino and Steven Spielberg -- found distinctive ways to deal with this country's tortured history of slavery with humor, heart and an abundance of intellect.

These films couldn't be more different in storytelling, texture and style. Yet two distinctive filmmakers -- Quentin Tarantino and Steven Spielberg -- found distinctive ways to deal with this country's tortured history of slavery with humor, heart and an abundance of intellect. (DreamWorks / Andrew Cooper / The Weinstein Co.)

It was a year so rich that it made the winnowing extremely difficult. There are 30 or so more films that I struggled to shoehorn in but couldn't. These survived that painful process -- my 2012 Top 10, with a few ties, a few honorable mentions. -- Times Film Critic Betsy Sharkey